Opinion on new HVAC price

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I would go with a well known brand and a local company that comes recommended by friends, neighbors. Consider a heat pump.

You need to compare estimates at your house, not generic installs of a 4 ton unit for example.
 
As many have said before (from various forums), pick your contractor/installer who does really good work FIRST then the best equipment you can afford.
A good installer and a proper sizing/installation/commissioning are more important than the equipment brand for the most part.

Go look at their current install jobs and inspect it yourself, read recent customer reviews, etc.
 
Originally Posted by oldoak2000
Order system yourself ($2700 delivered) - rough in yourself, and pay $1000 to an AC tech to do epa work (flush/vac/braze lines, etc).
save $4500 !!! completely legal!

https://iwae.com/shop/4-ton-14-seer...ner-gas-split-system-upflow-ha18296.html



This works exceptionally well.

There is no magic to AC systems. Put the unit in place, flush and hook up 2 copper lines and electrical power/thermostat, apply vacuum, then refrigerant. (most units are fully charged with refrigerant, so it's just a matter of opening the valves)

I've ordered HVAC systems myself, put them in place, hired the guy to do the hookup and had fantastic results.
 
There's a few considerations-

The equipment costs on what you have described is about $4800. That includes furnace/air handling section, cooling coil, condensing unit, refrigerant piping, Flue piping, some duct insulation, tape, mastic, screws, possibly a new outdoor plastic equipment pad.

Then there's a truck/van, tools, drill bits, insurance, vehicle maintenance, classes to keep up to date and other consumables.

This job typically takes about 12-16 man hours of highly skilled labor and 12-14 hours of "helper" labor. Combined hourly rate is about $125 that includes payroll, health insurance, vacation, profit and overhead. So that's about $2,000 in labor costs.

$5,000 + $2,000 = $7,000.

Tack on that "5 years of all maintenance" and "10 years of warranty on just about everything" and I think $8500 is about right. Nothing is free. That 5 years of maintenance is worth about $900, insurance (warranty) for 10 years is probably about $1,000.


NOBODY is getting the equipment you specify in Florida or anywhere else for $4,000. No one. You can't even buy the equipment for that price.


Also consider that there's fewer and fewer people entering the trades every single day. That means there's less people to perform this labor. What's a shortage of anything cause? Price increase.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
Maybe I'll take a AC class at the local Votech and DIY.



Jump on it.

I know A LOT about HVAC. I'm not an HVAC Tech, sheet metal worker or anything like that.

I changed my 2-ton split system out in our upstairs last year. I was able to buy a Lennox 14 SEER 2-ton Condensing Unit, 80% furnace and cooling coil for $1400 including tax. I did re-work some ductwork, put a new drain pan in, condensate pump, 100' of new refrigerant piping, some 12-2 romex, and some new flue piping. I spent, in addition to the $1400, $2,800 in other materials (mostly ductwork) and $1100 in labor for 2 experienced HVAC techs to come run the new refrigerant piping, replace the old rusty flue through the roof, make some final ductwork connections and perform start-up on the system. I had 40 hours of work in demolition of the old equipment, running new ductwork, installing new equipment, wiring and such. They spent 8 hours here doing all they did.

Yes, this was much more work than a simple change-out, but I would have still had about 24 hours in changing it out. The air handler was in the upper attic in a very tight, small space accessible only by pull-down stairs with only room to lay down on the previously placed plywood next to it. It took me about 7 hours just to get the old air handler and coil out of the attic. This is the major reason I moved the new air handler and coil to the larger, walk-in attic.
 
I had to replace my 18-year-old furnace and AC last fall and it came in a bit over $8000. That threw me a bit because every month my gas bill has an insert from a "preferred" installer that quotes a full setup for $3200. I think that's a "starting at" price though because friends and family that have had to replace both paid $6-8,000 depending on what they installed.

My install was considered to be easy since the basement is not finished and the furnace was easily accessible. Took one guy and his helper 8 hours to remove the old and install the new and from what I saw, they were working almost non-stop.
 
When bought our current house 3-1/2 years ago, about the first thing I did was replace the main split system.

I was able to get a 92% Lennox Furnace/Air Handling unit, 4-ton cooling coil and 16 SEER 2-speed condensing unit and Wifi thermostat and 60' of new refrigerant piping for $3300. This was below contractor pricing.

I paid a commercial/industrial Mechanical Contractor (friend of a neighbor) to change the system out. His charge was $3800. 3 people worked about 2 days in demolition, minor ductwork modifications and installation of the new equipment and start-up.

It was done RIGHT. Why did I use a commercial/industrial contractor? Because they do much better work than most residential HVAC people. Much better.

So there's some real-world costs.... no BS. I was fortunate enough to buy the equipment cheaper than a contractor....I bought premium branded stuff. One system was a basic 14 SEER system with an 80% furnace, one system was on the higher end of basic equipment. Labor and all the extra materials add up, quickly. For $3200-4000, you're getting basic crap from Goodman, Bryant, and other real no-name brands.

No, they are not "all basically built with the same parts." Yes, most do have Copeland Compressors. Copeland had different lines of quality, but they've mostly perfected the durability of the compressor so it will last 12 years or so, much like anyone's vehicle engine will last well over 100k miles today.
 
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